I Really Like Kentucky!
Well, I have to say that of the 6 new states we have visited so far on this trip I like Kentucky the best, because it’s just so pretty!
This morning we drove south-east of Lexington heading towards the Cumberland Mountain range and the Red River Gorge Scenic Byway. As soon as we left the interstate we were in a green and lovely meandering road through the woods that lined the river. We dived into a rock tunnel for a brief stretch, only a one way road with traffic taking turns to negotiate the tunnel, so I’m glad the traffic was light . We stopped briefly at one stage to enjoy the sylvan greenery.
Our main stop along the Byway was the Natural Bridge State Park. here, we took a deep breath and lined up for the Skyway chairlift that takes visitors up to the top of the cliff to see the Natural Bridge. The funny thing is that I have no problems at all on enclosed skylift rides that take you up incredible heaight, like we experienced on the Sandia Peak Tramway in Albuquerque, but I’m really not very comfortale on an open chairlift, especially when they take you up steep inclines of several hundred feet. Neil coped with this one better than I did! However, once I got over the weeblies, I enjoyed the view.
However we eventually reached the top and took the short trail to walk across the top of the Natural Bridge. Then we climbed down the stairs and squeezed through the narrow gap in the rocks to get underneath the arch for the view up. There were plenty of other sightseers there, including a young Amish ( or Mennonite?) couple who were on the chairlift seat ahead of us.
Walking across the top of the arch. The scenery here felt a bit like the Blue Mountains
Looking up at where we’d just walked.
Heading back up
It was a glorious day with blue skies and the sun shining, so after our ride we enjoyed sitting in the park at the bottom and having a coffee and a snack. We try to keep on top of the huge American meals by avoiding lunch altogether, but we take a thermos of coffee with us and tuck into a small snack in the middle of the day to tide us over til dinnertime.
When we left the byway we headed across country though pretty rolling farmland to take in another must-do in Kentucky – a visit to a bourbon distillery. This is the land of Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey and there are many distilleries that run tours. We stopped in at Wild Turkey Distillery and were there just in time for the 2.30 tour. They took us to the main brewing buildings where we saw 30,000 gallon tanks full of yeasty mash and then on to the still room and finally down to one of the huge warehouses where they age the barrels of bourbon for 10 to 12 years. The warehouse had a lovely smell, rich and caramel, and it was extraordinary to stand in a space with 30,000 barrels going up 7 stories.
Finally, back at the visitor centre, we were invited to take a seat and taste a small flight of 4 different varieties of Wild Turkey – such a difference between each one and I know which one is now my favourite – American Honey Sting. Delicious!
After we left the distillery it was time to head back to the hotel but we detoured along another Scenic Byway which led us past some of the finest horse studs in the Bluegrass. Beautiful homes and stables set back from the road on wide green pastures bordered with crisply painted rail fences. You can see there is PLENTY of money in this part of Kentucky!
It’s Saturday night and at the first restaurant we tried we were told the wait for a table would be 45 minutes so we headed off to find an alternative and I guess we were just lucky to stumble on one of the nices meals we’ve had so far at Ted’s Montana Grill. Owned by Ted Turner, the founder of CNN ( news network) and ex-husband of Jane Fonda, the chain is a tribute tohis ( now) home in Montana. There were several favourites from our previous visit to Montana and Yellowstone and the food was delicious! Neail had Bison and I had the tastiest trout – and the best thing was the servings were a sensible size so we didn’t roll away from the door of the restaurant for a change 🙂
The only thing about the day that wasn’t so good was Neil’s insistence on giving me the full Kentucky experience with his music soundtrack. Dolly Parton and Johnny Cash were just fine but when he made me listen to Billy Ray Cyrus singing “Achy Breaky Heart”…..gah!
Oh, and the other thing I didn’t like about today… the big fat Chevrolet truck parked next to our car at the distillery with the offensive slogan on the window…
